Konica Minolta Dives Into Telecom Services With Acquisition of Voice-Focused MSP

Konica Minolta Business Services has bought a 48-person managed service provider to better assist businesses with moving their voice services to the cloud.

The Ramsey, N.J.-based business unit said its purchase of Columbus, Ind.-based TLS.NET will unlock a wide range of phone services that can be tailored to the needs of specific customers. TLS.NET will become part of Konica Minolta's highly acquisitive All Covered IT Services division -- No. 113 on the 2017 CRN Solution Provider 500.

"The opportunities that lie before us in cloud, voice, and managed IT utilize the strengths of both companies and allow us to bring the benefits to our clients, employees and, of course, our local communities," Phil Luzius, owner and chief operating officer of TLS.NET, said in a statement.

[RELATED: Konica Minolta Acquires IT Weapons To Jump-Start Canadian MSP Push]

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The acquisition will provide TLS.NET with the global compliance and processes it needs to address today's cloud and cybersecurity challenges, Luzius said. Konica Minolta and TLS.NET will work together to enhance TLS.NET's existing offerings in the space and grow the use of telephony among established customers in need of voice services, according to Luzius.

"We are excited to integrate their services into our Workplace of the Future portfolio and to bring this much needed solution to our clients nationwide," Todd Croteau, All Covered's president, said in a statement.

Terms of the deal, which was announced Wednesday, weren't disclosed. Konica Minolta Business Services didn't respond to requests for additional comment.

TLS.NET was founded in 1986 and provides voice, cloud and managed IT services to clients in the Midwest. The company said its local help desk makes knowledgeable support engineering available to clients for both proactive help and to address day-to-day business needs.

The solution provider works closely with vendors such as VMware, Veeam, Cisco, Polycom, Dell and Microsoft, according to the company's website. It offers a variety of managed services including: patch management; remote monitoring; managed antivirus; managed offsite backup; web content protection; remote access; and mobile device management.

TLS.NET also manages its own reseller program, allowing other MSPs to outsource help desk and remote Network Operations Center (NOC) capabilities to the firm. Additionally, TLS.NET can provide hosted PBX, hosted contact center and SIP trunking to phone system vendors, according to the company's website.

Konica Minolta first entered the managed IT services market with its 2011 acquisition of All Covered. Since then, All Covered has acquired more than 20 MSPs, including fast-growing cloud computing services provider Techcess Group of Houston in May 2015.

A year earlier, Konica Minolta started looking for a Canadian solution provider to add to its portfolio. That culminated in the September 2015 acquisition of Brampton, Ontario-based IT Weapons -- No. 495 on the 2015 CRN SP 500 -- which at the time had 65 fully managed customers and roughly 300 project-based clients.

Konica Minolta derived 10 percent of its U.S. revenue from managed services as of September 2015, Croteau told CRN at the time. The vendor hoped the IT Weapons acquisition would help it transition from selling hardware and managed print services to selling a broader portfolio of managed IT services.

Other acquisitions by All Covered include: South California-based IT services consulting business KnowledgeCentrix in January 2014; Phoenix-based technology solution provider InterTech Computer Products in December 2012; healthcare-focused MSP WaveTwo, based in Irving, Texas, in August 2012; and the managed services division of Compuquip Technologies of Miami, also in August 2012.